The Power of Persuasive Doubt

BIRMINGHAM 12/4/17–Destroying reputations, families, and careers has become a spectator sport. As noses become longer by telling fibs about people, ears become garbage cans that receives every nasty accusation tossed in that trash can. And garbage stinks. The more you are around rotten garbage the more YOU stink.

So what is the drive behind the talebearers, as these particular sinners are called in the Bible? One word….ATTENTION. People are drawn to someone who seems to have the inside track on prominent people. For a moment, the talebearers are the center of the conversation which they desperately crave. It is pathetic that these poor souls think this is the only worth they have. And this, good people, does not qualify as the ‘gift of tongues.’

The public is fascinated by gossip–the more bizarre the better. Gossip has become an addiction. The lives of gossipers become one continuous scavenger hunt as they examine every possible avenue to have their ears tickled by the latest scandal and possible scandals to tell others about.

So we know there are those whose lives revolve around the latest gossip to satisfy their need for acceptance. This is based on clinical mental issues. Then there are others who do it to simply destroy others and their families….they are called, politicians.

They are the worst. They lie, cheat and slander even setting up situations to make a rival look bad.

This is especially illustrated by the Communist Democrats who tried desperately to destroy Donald Trump when he was a candidate for the Oval Office, and now especially, Judge Roy Moore who is running as Senator for Alabama. What the George Soros Democrats have done to this man has been brutal. And so far, every “witness” coming against Judge Moore has PROVED to be lying. So now that these allegations have proved false, why have they not been put in jail for perjury?

One tactic that has been effective to harm the reputation of someone is by asking a question such as; “That woman that he just said hello to. That seemed to be an extra friendly ‘hello.’ What do you think?” Or, “Does that look right to you?” All of these tonguenastics are used to try and create doubt as to the character of someone. This method is called, Persuasive Doubt.

The Democrats were given [this] time-proven weapon from Satan, yes, their creator, who first employed the question to create doubt in the world’s beginning by saying to Eve in The Garden of Eden; “Yea, hath God said they ye shall not eat of that one tree in the garden?”

God had told that first couple that they could eat of every tree of the garden except for that one tree. But with that question came doubts for Eve, which was the intention: “Wait, why can we not eat of that tree? That’s not right.” So she picked the apple (the Bible just says ‘fruit,’) took a bite and then gave it to Adam to eat, and….he did. That is woman power.

Atheists scoff at this story especially since it tells of a serpent coming to Eve in the garden and tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit. Actually, in this case it was not the snake we all know about today. The serpent was in the form of a man so she would not have been spooked. And this is proved in the biblical account in Genesis 3. Take a look:

Starting in verse 14, God, Who was furious that the serpent had successfully tempted Eve to disobey one of His commandments, said unto the serpent: “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.’

The serpent, that obviously had been a man, instantly became a snake as we know the snake today. As it was commanded by God that this man would suddenly live on his belly and eat dust. Obviously a change had taken place. Plus the snake is not one of the most popular creatures.

Questions for the purpose of stirring doubt is not only in the plateau of politicians, but there are also cases among…..the preachers! A few, not all….thank the Lord.

Many years ago I was an evangelist, traveling widely. God truly blessed these meetings with such dramatic manifestations of healing by the Holy Spirit, that often one would be spotlighted on a local radio program, such as a pastor’s daughter, born blind, received her sight. Everybody in town knew her. Miracles DID take place at these services.

The New York section of The Assemblies of God held a pastor’s retreat in upstate New York. One pastor I seemingly bonded with, Rev. Morris Williams had a small Assemblies of God Church on Staten Island. The whole area was changing with a shifting population.

While playing Tennis with Rev. Williams at the retreat, he said, “I sure wish we had it in the budget to have you do a revival at our church. We have lost so many people due to the changes in the area. We desperately need that but just don’t have the money to do it.”

“You don’t need any budget or money. I will come. You will have no transportation or living expenses since I live in Forest Hills, can take a subway and The Staten Island Ferry to get to and from your church. I’ll just need for you to pick me up and drop me off at the Ferry.” You can keep any collection money for the church.

The first night, only a handful of people were there, maybe a dozen at the most. I noticed an old woman with a very sad face sitting in the first row. After the service, everyone quietly left. The next night was the same.

On the third night, I came early and Pastor Williams and I walked around the church 7 times, praying. At the service that night, the crowd (?) was the same. Then while praying, God put it on my heart that there was someone in the congregation that had a cat that was sick and about to die. The cat was white with a couple of big black spots. And that cat was more than just a cat, but was the only family the owner had. And God spoke to my heart to say that the cat would recover.

Again, no reaction. The people left quietly to go home.

The next night on the way to the church we encountered several cars going in the direction of the church. What was going on? We could barely find a parking place in the lot behind the church. The church was overflowing.

As I started to speak, that little lady with the sad face in the front row stood up and said, “Rev. Miles, I’ve got to speak.” I invited her up. She said, “Last night you talked about a kitty cat that was sick and going to die. That was my kitty cat and he was sick and about to die. And you were right, this was more than a cat, to me he was my whole family. And yes, he was white with two black spots.

“When I got home after service, he was running around, purring and jumping around. He was totally healed. Well, I got on the phone and called everybody I knew to tell them about it.”

The Faith Assembly of God in Staten Island was full for the rest of the week. A youth group had been formed. After the Revival services were concluded, the next Sunday morning, the pastor again got up before a ‘packed house.’ Then he said: “Well that Austin Miles really had a lot to say. But let me tell you, there is something very suspicious and wrong about a man his age that showed so much interest in a 12-year-old girl. W H A T??

This young girl had severe problems with her home life. She walked back and forth to church on her own every service. We had bonded and she wanted to talk to me which I agreed. We went to Liberty Park in Lower Manhattan. I had bonded with a couple in the church and asked for them to go with us on the Ferry and to that park so the girl and I could talk. They agreed that when we sat on a bench that they would sit on the bench next to us which they did. The girl shared a litany of problems she was facing.

As soon as Pastor Williams began his tirade of accusations against me, the couple I was with immediately got to their feet in front of the congregation and angrily told the pastor that they had gone with us and were with us every minute “What is more,” the wife of the couple virtually screamed at the pastor, “We are leaving this church for good, as of NOW!” As they walked out a stream of people walked out with them.

Now for the kicker. Guess what the little girl wanted to talk to me about. As she told me, Pastor Williams had been telling her to come to his office, closed the door and asked her repeatedly if she had a boyfriend, ever had sex, did she plan to, what she would like, and on and on. This of course made the young girl nervous and indeed, frightened. She trusted me enough to talk to me about this.

That old BASTARD! Now don’t get your backs up, this is a real term used in the Bible. A bastard is one with questionable birth details. And his birth details are very interesting. Here’s a man living in total sin and lust, yet claims to be, ‘born again.’ I Don’t think so.

Pastor Morris Williams fully defines the title of this piece, Persuasive Doubt that he had mastered. On November 3rd, last month, I learned that “Rev.” Morris Williams had died. I shed no tears. And I won’t have to worry about seeing him in heaven. He never got that far.

The headline of this story includes the words, Persuasive Doubt. I found this couple of words in a story on News With Views written by A.M.Byrd and borrowed them. She is a great writer. So let it be known that I owe her two words.